TH Black Eye (Soldano GTO) prototype build

[vigilante398]

This might have been covered already but, although I see that a revision of the DIY Black Eye PCB is now available, are there any plans to release a DIY PCB of the Black Eye II that is for sale in the Pedal Shop?

Nope, I don't release DIY projects for products I'm actively selling. If you want your circuit to have a fatter bass response you can swap the 1uF cathode bypass caps for 47uF (literally what the bass boost switch on Black Eye II does), but you're on your own if you want to try swapping the tonestack for something else.

 

[joelorigo]

Nope, I don't release DIY projects for products I'm actively selling. If you want your circuit to have a fatter bass response you can swap the 1uF cathode bypass caps for 47uF (literally what the bass boost switch on Black Eye II does), but you're on your own if you want to try swapping the tonestack for something else.

Sure that makes sense. Thank you!

 

[vigilante398]

Alright, my main computer is finally back up and running and I've looked through all the files, but I don't see my list of Black Eye buffer board requestors, I'm not sure what happened to it.

So if you ordered one (or more) of the original design Black Eye PCBs and need/want a buffer PCB for it, please shoot me a PM or email with your order number and shipping address (if it's changed from your original address on the order) even if you already did in the past and I'll start working through and getting PCBs out to people.

I apologize for the delay on this, I'm terrible at time management and people are too patient with me so I have trouble finding time for everything. I should also sleep more. Anyway.

 

[fydo]

Sorry to resurrect this older thread, I've just been working through my pedal backlog and wanted to share that I got my v1 Black Eye working with the newest buffer that @vigilante398 sent. It worked on the 2nd try! (On the first attempt I had forgotten to put the IC in the socket, haha)

Happy to report no oscillation issues. Here's some photos (I'll do a proper build report when I get the enclosure painted up nicely)

Also it turns out that a couple extra LEDs in series with the footswitch LED makes for a decent tube backlight

 

[Bricksnbeatles]

Awesome! I still have my V1 black eye in my backlog since I forgot the parts each time I’ve ordered from Tayda, but it’s awesome to see that more of those builds are working currently!

 

[jimilee]

I might be doing it wrong. I haven’t had any oscillating on mine.

 

[jjjimi84]

I have been cranking with mine and love it. Although the gain is never more than half up

 

[Feral Feline]

I'm re-reading this thread as I've got a couple legacy Black Eyes still to build up, and one of the newer ones, too.

Y'all were getting crazy around pages 9 and 10 with enclosures that were drilled CORRECTLY with top jacks.

Folks shoulda been figuring out a way to creatively route the pots-wiring for the TOPJACKs and using Betty Wont's hole-plugging solution (see BW's pic below) for all enclosures drilled with sidejacks!

 

[joelorigo]

@vigilante398, or anyone else, a couple of quick Black Eye questions.

I saw at some point you said this could be ran at 9v or 12v, correct? 12v would have more output and headroom, but basically the same sound?

And if you are looking at the component side of the PCB, valve 1 is on the left, yes?

I just finished populating my board!

 

[vigilante398]

I saw at some point you said this could be ran at 9v or 12v, correct?

Correct.

12v would have more output and headroom, but basically the same sound?

Incorrect. The SMPS supplying the high voltage to the tube is regulated, which means its output does not change when the input changes. So regardless of the input voltage, the tube will get the same voltage, meaning no difference in sound between 9V and 12V operation.

And if you are looking at the component side of the PCB, valve 1 is on the left, yes?

Correct.

 

[joelorigo]

Thank you!

 

[joelorigo]

Quick confirmation.

The build doc says this about wiring the jacks:
"the round pad is the ground connection and the square pad is the positive (signal or power) connection."

Those pads open the PCB are all round. Based on what I assume is the polarity of the jacks in the build doc photos, and looking at photos of other builds, it seems that if you are looking at the component side of the PCB, starting form the left, the pads are: negative, positive then negative, positive then positive, negative. Is that correct?

 

[vigilante398]

Quick confirmation.

The build doc says this about wiring the jacks:
"the round pad is the ground connection and the square pad is the positive (signal or power) connection."

Those pads open the PCB are all round. Based on what I assume is the polarity of the jacks in the build doc photos, and looking at photos of other builds, it seems that if you are looking at the component side of the PCB, starting form the left, the pads are: negative, positive then negative, positive then positive, negative. Is that correct?

Yeah I need to fix that in the build doc. Your labels are correct.

 

[joelorigo]

Thank you for the quick reply!

 

[joelorigo]

Here's my almost finished pedal. I just spent an hour with it. WOWZA! (I'll share some more detailed impressions when I do a build report )

The knobs I bought are too big.

Another question though. This is the LEDs I have in there:

LED UV 5mm Ultraviolet

Get It Fast - Same Day Shipping

www.taydaelectronics.com

I wanted purple but they don't light up the inside very much. Would another one be brighter? Like this one maybe?

LED 5mm White Water Clear Ultra Bright

Get It Fast - Same Day Shipping

www.taydaelectronics.com

Or replace the correct resistor with a different value?

 

[vigilante398]

Here's my almost finished pedal. I just spent an hour with it. WOWZA! (I'll share some more detailed impressions when I do a build report )

The knobs I bought are too big.

Another question though. This is the LEDs I have in there:

LED UV 5mm Ultraviolet

Get It Fast - Same Day Shipping

www.taydaelectronics.com

I wanted purple but they don't light up the inside very much. Would another one be brighter? Like this one maybe?

LED 5mm White Water Clear Ultra Bright

Get It Fast - Same Day Shipping

www.taydaelectronics.com

Or replace the correct resistor with a different value?

The ultraviolets don't get very bright, I use the 5mm pink ones instead. It's still a purple-ish hue but significantly brighter.

Any of the ultra bright water clear family are winners though.

 

[joelorigo]

Oh cool, I have a ultra bright pink one to try, thanks!

 

[joelorigo]

The ultraviolets don't get very bright, I use the 5mm pink ones instead. It's still a purple-ish hue but significantly brighter.

Any of the ultra bright water clear family are winners though.

Hopefully I will have time to day to switch out the LEDs. Just double checking here, at one point, maybe in this thread, you said that the high voltage caps drain in about 8-10 seconds, correct? So after letting it sit for a few minutes the pedal is safe to go poking around in there? I have no experience in high voltage builds except for this and the Diplomat, both of which worked on first start up.

 

[vigilante398]

Hopefully I will have time to day to switch out the LEDs. Just double checking here, at one point, maybe in this thread, you said that the high voltage caps drain in about 8-10 seconds, correct? So after letting it sit for a few minutes the pedal is safe to go poking around in there? I have no experience in high voltage builds except for this and the Diplomat, both of which worked on first start up.

Yup, they drain pretty quick. If you let it sit a few minutes you should be fine.

 

[joelorigo]

Thanks again for the quick reply. And thanks for being active on this board to provide support and answers about the Sushi Box PCBs! (Next project up for me is the King Nothing btw)